Lettered below the image with the title (MORNING.) in filled letters, and 'From a Picture in the possession of Frederick Perkins Esqr. | GEMS OF ART, PLATE, 19.' | London, Published Augst. 1st. 1824, by W.B. Cooke, 9 Soho Square.; production details: 'Painted by Richard Wilson. R.A.' 'Engraved by S.W. Reynolds. | Engraver to the King.'

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Subject

The exact location of the view is has been much debated and the scene is almost certainly a capriccio centred on the so-called Temple of Venus at Baia near Naples (see Critical commentary below). The marble sarcophagus in the foreground is very much an invention of Wilson's and cannot be considered conventional in form, with its square shape, flat open top and oval decoration.

Related Subjects

Related Drawings

D271 Bay of Baiae - Temple of Venus, Victoria & Albert Museum, London

Related Prints

E64 William Sherlock after Wilson, River, Sea-Coast and circular Ruin ('Morning'), The British Museum and other impressions E72/14 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, Temple of Venus with Part of the Bay of Baiae, The British Museum and other impressionsE72/40 Thomas Hastings after Wilson, Landscape (River, Sea Coast and circular Ruin), The British MuseumE74 Samuel William Reynolds after Wilson, Evening, The British Museum and other impressions

Plate 19 of Gems of Art: Forming a Choice Collection Engraved from Pictures of Acknowledged Excellence, Beauty, & Variety, Painted by Esteemed Masters of All Ages and Countries', published by William Bernard Cooke, 9, Soho Square, in 1824. The composition has been known under several titles, notably The Temple of Venus at Baiae but at first sight the temple does not seem to be the same building as in D271, the drawing by Wilson of this subject in the Victoria & Albert Museum, or in the famous Turner painting of the Bay of Baiae in Tate, London. However, Robin Simon has recently observed that the building is in fact the same (actually baths rather than a temple) but seen from the opposite side, revealing the ruined open aspect of the structure. He further has identified the landscape in the middle distance as resembling the view looking out from the Bay of Pozzuoli and the town of Baia towards Naples - an area much favoured by Wilson.